Ex-Miss Utah sues police over Nu Skin allegations

Ex-Miss Utah sues police over Nu Skin allegations

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A former Miss Utah is suing the city of Provo, claiming in a lawsuit filed last week that police officers violated her civil rights during their investigation of theft allegations from skin care and nutritional product company Nu Skin.

Elizabeth Craig said in federal court documents that she didn't steal the company's merchandise, but was legally selling surplus product donated to her business partner. She claims Provo police went along with trumped up allegations from Nu Skin employees who set up a sting to shut down any sales outside of their multilevel marketing structure.

Attorneys for the city deny her allegations, saying police did their own investigation and acted properly during the case.

"Police officers are just trying to do their jobs," Assistant City Attorney Gary Millward said Wednesday.

Nu Skin issued a statement calling Craig's claims baseless and pointing out that a federal judge has dismissed the company from the case.

The amended federal complaint is the fourth civil claim Craig has filed since a judge tossed criminal charges against her four years ago. A similar suit filed in state court is scheduled to come before the Utah Supreme Court in January.

Craig says in court documents that she was building a career as a motivational speaker and author after her 1991 Miss Utah win when she started a business called Nu Lite to sell expired, damaged or overstock Nu Skin products online. She says the multimillion-dollar, Provo-based Nu Skin was donating the merchandise it would otherwise throw out to a foundation called Interface.

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Craig says Interface decided cash would be more useful for their charitable purchases than high-end beauty products, and its founder, Scott Lazerson, gave them to her to sell online. A portion of the proceeds went back to the charity, the suit states.

Employees were aware of and supported the donation, Craig says, but others in the company saw the products online and reported the sale to police to protect the brand in 2010. The suit alleges Nu Skin investigators set up a sting, preparing a new donation so officers could track it and find out where it was being sold.

Police eventually arrested Craig, Lazerson and her business partner Brady Harper on theft charges, but the charges were thrown out months later by a judge who said there was no evidence the products were stolen.

But Craig says the negative publicity shut down her budding career, as Brigham Young University canceled appearances and a store that sells Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints-oriented books stopped selling products associated with her. She says she's lost tens of thousands of dollars on legal fees and been harassed by members of her church since the arrest. She also says she lost about $1 million worth of products seized during the investigation and later destroyed by Nu Skin.

Craig sued in state court in 2012 and is appealing a state decision tossing her suit because she waited too long under a governmental immunity law. She sued in federal court early this year and refiled the claims last week in a complaint first reported by The Salt Lake Tribune after a judge dismissed the company and the investigating officer from the case.

The suit seeks unspecified damages.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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